[nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question

Mikayla Gephart mikgephart at icloud.com
Mon Dec 28 20:06:01 UTC 2015 

Hi all,
Since we are on the topic, I have a question for all of you. When you write to a legislative assistant, it seems like they never respond. Is that how you all feel? They all seemed so supportive at Washington Seminar last year, but when I follow up, they never even respond. I would not even mind a one sentence response from them. 

Sent from my iPad

> On Dec 28, 2015, at 2:54 PM, Michael D Ausbun via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
>    One of the nifty things, in my opinion, about writing your senators in this capacity, is that we all have plenty of relatability to the subject matter being discussed. Therefore, it ought to be, if not easy, then entertaining, to script a relatable, and passionate letter. If you want anyone to look over your message before you send it to your congressional representatives, feel free to send it my way; I would be more than happy to read it over, and, if necessary, offer suggestions!
> Respectfully,
> Michael Ausbun
> Interim Legislative Director, Nevada
> Board Member, National Association of Blind Students
> First Vice-President, National Federation of the Blind of Nevada
> 
> ________________________________________
> From: nabs-l [nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] on behalf of Derek Manners via nabs-l [nabs-l at nfbnet.org]
> Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 10:16 PM
> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
> Cc: Derek Manners
> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
> 
> Also, I interjected personal stories about myself or people I know who would be directly affected by the law.
> 
> Best regards
> Derek Manners
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Dec 27, 2015, at 11:27 PM, justin williams via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>> 
>> Keep the facts straight, but do them in your own words; it should sound and
>> be authentic.
>> Justin
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Sunday, December 27, 2015 11:59 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>> 
>> When you wrote to your congresspeople, did you just simply copy the
>> information from the fact sheets? Or did you paraphrase the information in
>> your own words?
>> Vejas
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sun, 27 Dec 2015 20:43:49 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>> 
>> Hello Vejas,
>> 
>> If I recall correctly, I believe the fact sheets for Washington Seminar are
>> usually posted sometime in mid-January.  There are usually several
>> announcements posted to email lists and Twitter accounts when the fact
>> sheets become available.  The fact sheets contain information you can use
>> when contacting members of Congress.
>> 
>> When I contacted my Congressional Representative using the contact form
>> located on his website, I received a response from someone in his office
>> indicating appreciation for my support for the legislative issues I
>> mentioned in my correspondence with them.  However, there are generally
>> address filters attached to these forms that only allow correspondence from
>> constituents, or people living in the Congressional district, to go through.
>> 
>> When I contacted members of Congress using the email addresses provided to
>> me by my state affiliate legislative coordinator, I generally did not
>> receive a response to my email.  However, I always used subject lines that
>> indicated support for a specific piece of legislation by mentioning the bill
>> number in the subject line.  So even when someone did not read or respond to
>> my email, they still knew why I was writing them.
>> 
>> If you prefer receiving feedback when contacting a member of Congress,
>> perhaps you could call their office instead.  The person you talk to on the
>> phone may not know much about the specific issue you are calling about, but
>> they can reassure you that the member of Congress will take note of your
>> support on any legislative issue.
>> 
>> One thing I thought of after posting my previous response to your email is
>> the use of Twitter.  Recently, I have seen an increase of the use of Twitter
>> in thanking members of Congress who support the legislative issues of the
>> NFB.  Additionally, I have also seen some state affiliates use Twitter to
>> thank members of Congress for meeting with them during Washington Seminar.
>> So this is something else you could do to help support the legislative
>> efforts of Washington Seminar if you are not able to be there in person.  I
>> am honestly not quite sure how effective using Twitter might actually be in
>> promoting legislative issues, but I would imagine every little action in
>> gaining support for the legislative  issues of the NFB would be helpful.
>> 
>> I hope this helps answers your questions.  However, I would be more than
>> happy to answer any additional questions you might have regarding Washington
>> Seminar.
>> 
>> Warm regards,
>> Elizabeth
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2015 8:50 PM
>> To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>> 
>> Thank you all so much for your answers.
>> I would be very interested in getting in touch with my members of Congress.
>> I just have a few more questions:
>> What are the main issues that we are trying to get across? I know that there
>> is the one bill that people with disabilities should have equal minimum
>> wage.  Is this the only issue we are bringing to our congresspeople, or is
>> there something else?
>> My next question is: do you find that most Congresspeople fairly good at
>> answering their e-mails? I know from attending the NFB Law Program as a teen
>> that even when you talk to your congresspeople in person, they may just
>> completely forget about the bill or ignore it and don't follow through, so I
>> would imagine that follow-up with e-mail contact would be more difficult.
>> Thank you so much.
>> Vejas
>> 
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Elizabeth Mohnke via nabs-l <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> To: "'National Association of Blind Students mailing list'"
>> <nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Date sent: Sat, 26 Dec 2015 13:28:23 -0500
>> Subject: Re: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>> 
>> Hello Vejas,
>> 
>> I have never heard of any national or state conventions where you could
>> participate by phone before.  I know the national convention along with some
>> state affiliates will stream the convention online so other people can
>> listen.  But I have never seen people who are not at a convention be able to
>> participate and interact with specific events and activities at a
>> convention.  However, I do know some state affiliates as well as state
>> student divisions hold meetings via conference call, so perhaps this might
>> be what you are talking about when talking about people being able to
>> participate via phone.
>> 
>> I think the only way a person can participate in meetings with members of
>> Congress during Washington Seminar is by attending Washington Seminar.
>> However, there are still ways you can have an impact on the legislative
>> efforts that go on at Washington Seminar despite the fact you are not able
>> to attend Washington Seminar.
>> 
>> In years past when I have not been able to attend Washington Seminar, I
>> would write an email to my members of Congress shortly before other members
>> of the NFB would be meeting with them during Washington Seminar.
>> In general,
>> there is usually a coordinator in each state affiliate who is in charge of
>> contacting members of Congress to set up the appointments for Washington
>> Seminar.  I am sure if you contact the coordinator for Washington Seminar in
>> your state they should be able to provide you with the names and contact
>> information for the people they will be meeting with during Washington
>> Seminar.
>> 
>> Contacting members of Congress before and after Washington Seminar is just
>> as important as meeting with members of Congress during Washington Seminar.
>> Sometimes it can take a lot of follow up to get a member of Congress on
>> board with our legislative efforts.  Following up with members of Congress
>> after Washington Seminar can be a rather tedious but rewarding job if it is
>> something you are interested in doing.
>> 
>> Anyway, I hope this helps answer your questions about Washington Seminar.
>> Attending Washington Seminar can sometimes be challenging for students.
>> Hopefully you will be able to attend Washington Seminar next year since you
>> are not able to attend this year.
>> 
>> Warm regards,
>> Elizabeth
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: nabs-l [mailto:nabs-l-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas
>> Vasiliauskas via nabs-l
>> Sent: Saturday, December 26, 2015 12:26 PM
>> To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
>> Cc: Vejas Vasiliauskas <alpineimagination at gmail.com
>> Subject: [nabs-l] Washington Seminar Question
>> 
>> Hi All,
>> I was very interested in going to the Washington Seminar in January, but I
>> now can't, due to reasons I do not wish to disclose on a public forum.
>> My question is this: I know that for the NFB conventions, if you couldn't
>> make it to meetings, you could still do it by phone.
>> Does anyone know if you could still have state appointments and meetings
>> with your affiliate by phone and still participate?
>> Thanks,
>> Vejas
>> 
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